SALEM, Ore. (Jan. 3, 2026)— Several new consumer protection and health insurance laws took effect immediately when the calendar turned to Jan. 1, 2026, expanding coverage requirements, strengthening patient protections and limiting certain medical billing practices statewide.
The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (DFR), part of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, announced it is releasing an easy-to-follow guide outlining the changes. The department is the state’s largest consumer protection and business regulatory agency.
The new laws span medical debt reporting, health insurance coverage standards and protections for consumers in the event of insurer insolvency.
One of the most sweeping changes comes under Senate Bill 605, which prohibits health care providers from reporting medical debt to consumer reporting agencies and bars those agencies from including medical debt on credit reports.
Several measures expand required health insurance coverage. SB 692 requires the Oregon Health Plan and commercial health benefit plans to cover perinatal services, including care provided by doulas, lactation consultants and lactation educators.
SB 699 broadens existing requirements for coverage of prosthetic and orthotic devices, including devices deemed medically necessary for physical activities such as running, biking, swimming and strength training, aimed at maximizing full-body function.
Access to care is the focus of SB 822, which strengthens standards for timely access to in-network health care services. The law establishes enforceable benchmarks to prevent unreasonable delays, requires health plan networks to consider the needs of diverse communities and extends protections to state-regulated health plans offered by large employers.
Breast reconstruction coverage is expanded under SB 1137, which requires health benefit plans to cover autologous breast reconstruction procedures that use a patient’s own tissue. The law also mandates out-of-network coverage when adequate in-network access is not available.
Consumer protections related to insurer insolvency are addressed in House Bill 2130, which updates the laws governing the Oregon Insurance Guaranty Association. The measure doubles the cap on covered claims from $300,000 to $600,000, reducing the risk of uncovered losses in the rare event an insurance company becomes insolvent.
Transparency in health insurance rate setting is the goal of HB 2564, which enhances the rate review process for individual and small group plans. The law requires insurers to include a consumer-friendly summary with rate filings to improve public engagement and removes what state officials describe as redundant administrative steps.
Hormone-related therapies are covered under HB 3064, which requires health benefit plans to cover a range of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for symptoms associated with perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause.
Another consumer billing protection takes effect under HB 3243, aimed at preventing surprise out-of-network ambulance charges. The law prohibits ground ambulance providers from balance billing patients who have paid their in-network cost-sharing amount and requires health plans to reimburse ambulance providers at specified rates.
State regulators said the combined changes are intended to strengthen consumer protections, improve access to care and provide greater clarity and fairness in Oregon’s health insurance system as the new year begins.
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